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First Brake Flush

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by RefinedXJ, May 17, 2010.

  1. RefinedXJ

    RefinedXJ New Member

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    I just flushed out the brakes on my '83 seca 550 this past weekend and wanted to hit myself for driving around on it without fresh fluid. After the first couple pumps of the fluid, I had a snowglobe in my drain bottle, except it was with brown fluid and flakes of rust. Considering the bottle of brake fluid was only $1.99, and my brakes aren't as spongy, this was a quick and easy fix.

    I also got a chance to use a little brake fluid flush tool from harbor freight that really helped. It had a magnet that held it right on the disc. Flushing out the whole lines topped it out about 3 times. I just had to watch out for it overflowing or else the old fluid would shoot out of a small hole in the top and get all over the tire.

    Even with the better braking that I now have, I still need to upgrade to some new SS brake lines that rust out.

    One thing that has me guessing from this little fix was the gray matter that was in the bottom of the fluid reservior when I opened it up. The picture I have only shows about half of what was in there when i opened it up, but it was completely covering the bottom of the MC. I dabbed as much of it as I could out with a paper towel, and then ran the rest that I could get at down and out of the brake line. The brakes do feel firmer, but I dont know if that gray stuff is telling me that I should rebuild the MC when i find some new brake lines.

    And does anyone know where I can find a new sight window? Right now, I can still see the level of the fluid but the glass is all cracked up.
     
  2. RickCoMatic

    RickCoMatic Well-Known Member

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    Here's an Old Post of mine that will help you.
    You just need to but a wristwatch crystal.
    The "Domed" ones are nice,
    ..........
    "The Old School Method"
    Replacing Site Glasses with Watch Crystals
    by: Rick Massey
    All rights reserved.

    I mixed some regular 5-Minute Epoxy. I used the narrow ends of toothpicks (many) to place the small amount of epoxy behind the crystal. [It was more like a "smear" than it was a bead.]

    The outside sealing got done by placing a partial drop of epoxy at the edge. Tossing the toothpick that was used to apply the epoxy and using many other toothpicks (I had a half-dozen between my lips) to "drag along" the freshly mixed sealant taking advantage of its slow capillary action.

    I used a bunch of soda cans and shot small amounts of UN-mixed epoxy on the concave bottom of the can. Then, when the epoxy you are working with just begins to "Pull" ... shitcan that mix and blend yourself one of the UN-mixed ones you have lined-up.

    Once you have the sealing bead all around the new CRYSTAL ... take full advantage of it being crystal and shape the epoxy around the inside diameter of the window.

    Use your little finger moistened with "Good Old-Fashioned Spit" (saliva) to make a nice looking finish ... like a glazer would do on a window.

    Clean-up BOTH the Crystal AND the shape of the seal with lacquer thinner.
    Use old, cotton, T-shirt cloth and moisten the cloth stretched tightly about your finger. Closer to "Damp" than "Moist"

    The lacquer thinner will clean the glass off anywhere you might have goofed while simultaneously helping you apply a really fine-looking bevel on the epoxy around the glass.

    If it isn't crystal or glass and you touch it with lacquer thinner; you'll be back to Square One, immediately.
    - 30 -
     
  3. bigfitz52

    bigfitz52 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Our resident parts guru, chacal, carries the replacement crystals.

    See "XJ4Ever, Supporting Vendor" in the index.

    CLEAN ALL that congealed crud out; replace with stainless lines as soon as possible (again, check with chacal.) REBUILD caliper and master cylinders SOON; caliper more critical if there is such a thing when it comes to brakes. The caliper usually gets the dirty end of the stick from sitting.

    CHECK THE REAR BRAKE IMMEDIATELY for delamination, a common occurance on these bikes. Not kidding, do a forum search for "SAFETY ALERT" and read.
     
  4. RefinedXJ

    RefinedXJ New Member

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    I just had the rear brake shoes changed a couple months ago before putting some long distance days (150mi+) on the bike. And that post about the delaminating shoes was the reason why. The shoes were so old, there wasn't a whole lot of the pad to come away from the metal.

    With the new shoes on there, I haven't noticed a whole lot of improvement with the rear brake. The only real difference is that now there is a hum instead of a squeak when applying the brake. I was wondering what else could be done to improve the rear brake performance on the bike.
     
  5. bigfitz52

    bigfitz52 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    When you replaced the rear shoes, what did you do to the drum?

    I rebuilt both of mine, and can lock the rear at will on either bike. They do take a few hundred miles to "bed in" though, and you have to be careful not to get them glazed up by over-using them until they do get seated.
     
  6. RefinedXJ

    RefinedXJ New Member

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    I had the local dealer replace the front pads and rear shoes. They didn't do anything extra.

    The work that they did came out just the way my friends told me their service department works, pretty bad. It took three return trips for them to stop oil leaking out of the cam cover with a new gasket, the new rear tire loses about 10psi overnight, and when i took the cover off of the master cylinder the old rusty brake fluid was overflowing because they didn't bother to check the level after pushing the caliper back in for the new pad.

    I just found a new guy that likes to work on old import bikes at about half the cost of the dealer. He replaced the fork seals for $145 with me supplying the parts, while the dealer quoted me 350 for parts and labor. Whats cool about this guy is that he tinkered around with other things on my bike without charging me. He richened up the fuel mixture, adjusted the cam chain, stripped and cleaned out the front brake caliper, and also checked the compression on each of the cylinders.

    Either way, as far as i know nothing else has been done to the rear brakes other than a simple shoe change. I've probably put 600 miles on the new brakes in the past 2 months, and while there has been some improvement, i really have to jump on the rear brake to really notice them.
     
  7. lopezfr2

    lopezfr2 Member

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    i'd watch out for a guy who does extra work you didn't ask for without telling you first. the guy i took my bike to for its valve adjustment decided to mess with my horn and flasher relay and when i went to pick them up, he told me about it and said he couldnt get them to work again. that was lots of fun getting them working again.

    as for your rear brakes not working well, they might just be improperly adjusted. how far do you have to push the pedal before you feel anything? try giving the adjustment nut on the rod a few turns and see if that helps.
     
  8. RickCoMatic

    RickCoMatic Well-Known Member

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    The thing about having an Old Bike is that it needs to be TREATED like it's an Old Bike.

    What you may need to do is De-Glaze the Shoes and the Rear Brake Drum.

    De-glazing the Shoes is simple.
    Sand the surface of the Shoes with some Medium Coarse Sand Paper.
    Don't work one spot. Sand the whole surface and remove the Shinny Burned Surface off the Shoes and restore an Un-glazed surface to the Shoes.
    While your at it, ... CHAMFER the Edges so the Shoes won't squeak.

    De-glaze the Brake Drum:
    Remove the "Rust Ridge" on the outside with a DREMEL Tool and a Medium Sanding Barrel.
    Keep the Tool MOVING around the Circumference of the Drum relatively quickly.
    Get rid of the Rust Ridge and make it SHINE,

    Once you have the Drum Rust-ridge free ... DE-GLAZE the Brake Drum Surface.
    By hand:
    Use Plumbers Sandpaper for shining Copper Tubing.
    It's about the right width.
    Sand the Drum surface de-glazing the Drum with a SLANT Pattern all the way around.
    Muscle it but DON'T Stop moving until you get all the way around.
    Do a second pass around SLANTING the opposite way.

    Easy way:

    DREMEL
    Medium Coarse Sanding Barrel.
    Medium Speed.
    Hit the Drum with the sander and KEEP MOVING around and around until you apply HATCH Marks on the whole surface.
    Don't stop moving.
    Just break the surface and be done with it.
     

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